Button



March 17, 1942. H. w. ll-INDAHL j l 2,276,321

' BUTTON Filed Feb. 2, 1940` 252 vengo/3 i! h/mjl thetic material in moulds.

Patented Maa 17, A1942 UNITED sTATl-:s yliasrisziiil Voi-rlcs BUTTON neming Waldemar unam, mash-ons, Sweden Application February 2, 1940, Serial No. 317,034

In Sweden April 18, 1939 4 claims. (el. fc4-9o) -I Bakelite, the buttons being in the latter case pressed into their nal shape according to the usual methods of pressing articles of such syn- The buttons of this type as hitherto used are provided with a number of holes, usually two or four, for their sewing on to the clothing. The sewing on of the buttons must be carried out manually in. such cases where the stitches must not be visible on the side of the cloth, or layers of cloth, opposite the button, i. e. where the sewing thread must not pass throughout the cloth or layers of cloth.

- A sewing of this kind, so called blind sewing.

cannot be carried out in a button sewing machine in the case of buttons provided with sewing holes. s

The present invention in buttons of the abovementioned type made from a synthetic' material by pressing in moulds,v said improvements consisting in that the button, instead of holes for sewing of it on, is provided with a neck secured centrally to it at the pressing thereof and consisting of a double-up cord or the like, for example of flax, silk, cotton or similar strong, soft and exible material, both ends of which are moulded into the button. According to the invention, this. button may be made extremely simply and cheaply and it has besides a number of other advantages, such as for' example that it does not differ in form and appearance from buttons of the ordinary type having sewing holes, that the button neck consists of the said strong cord and not, as is usually the case, of the sewing thread and has a length and strength determined by this cord, that the button is iixed very strongly to the button neck and does not gradually get loose from the button neck, as do buttons with sewing holes due to the sewing thread forming said neck being worn off against the edges of the holes, and that the sewing on of the button can be carried out blindly in a sewing machine equipped with auxiliary means therefor.

The character of the button resulting from the invention will be best explained by describing the method of manufacturing the same which is illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which:

refers to improvements Figures 5 and 6 show the nished button from one side and from above, respectively. A

Referring to the drawing, the press mold for pressing the button of Bakelite or other suitable synthetic material consists in well-known manner of a bottom section I and a top section 2, the latter being shown only in Figure 4.y Thesesections are in the ordinary manner provided with mould depressions in their sides facing each other, which depressions together correspond to the shape of the nished button. Besides, a boring or similar recess 3 is provided in the bottom section I centrally in relation to the mould .depression (Fig. 1).

The manufacture of the button is carried out in the following manner according to the form of the invention illustrated in the drawing. A piece of cord 4 or the. like of a suitable textile material is placed across the mould depression in the bottom section I. as is shown in Figure 1, so that thecentre of this piece of cord 4 will be situated right above the recess 3. By means of a chisel-shaped tool 5 the cord 4 is then bent double and firmly pressed down into the boring 3, as is shown in Figure 2. They boring 3 is of such length and'width in relation to the length and thickness of the double-bent cord that the latterV after being pressed down into the boring 3 completely lls the same and with both ends projects a small distance upwardly above the edge of the recess into the mould depression for the button. After pressing down the cord! into the kboring 3 as shown by means or the tool 5 the latter is retracted, the doubled-up cord remaining in position as shown in Figure 3. As is also shown in the last-mentioned figure, a proportioned quantity of powder of the synthetic materiall for example Bakelite, of which the but- Figures 1 to 4 show different stages of the ton is to be made is then placed in the mould depression of the bottom 'section I. As will be seen the powder is placed in a heap 6 over the ends of the cord 4 projecting from the boring 3. Thereupon the top section 2 is placed against the bottom section I, as is shown in Figure 4, the two sections being pressed together with the requisite high pressure in a hydraulicv or other suitable press while at the same time heating the press mould to the required temperature, for example by leading steam through channels I in the press mould sections I and 2. The pressure, the temperature and the duration of the pressing may be chosen in accordance with the customary practice for the synthetic material winch is used in each case. Besides Bakelite there are a number of other synthetic materials which can be pressed in moulds in the same or a similar manner and which fuliill the requirements in respect to strength, durability and appearance.

When the mould sections are pressed together to bring the powder 6 to i111 the mould depressions, a pressure is exerted on the projecting ends I'a of the cord 4 .through the portion of the powder lying above said ends, whereby they are upset to a certain degree and `caused to spread, whichprevents that the cord ends force their way to the surface on the face of the button head piece 8 and ensures that the cord will be very strongly fixed to the head piece so that practically it cannot be torn out of the latter.

' The button is/flnished when, after completing the pressing, it is taken out of the mould together with the attached button neck consisting of the cord I or the like. Any boring of sewing holes in the button does not remain to be done after the pressing. Possibly only some little polishing may be required. As will be understood without further, small recesses 9 (Figures 5 `and 6 and grooves I0 extending between said recesses for imitating sewing holes and sewing threads may be made in well-lknown manner on the face of the button at the pressing of the latter by a corresponding formation of the press mould. The sewing onof the button is carried out by sewing the free end of the neck to the Ycloth, and even if the sewingon is made by meansof a'sewing machine, it can be made blindly without diiilculty, i. e. so that the sewing thread will not be visible on the side oi.' the cloth opposite the button, the cloth being folded at the point where the button is to be sewed on while the sewing on takes place.

It is to be noted from the foregoing and from the drawing that the Aentire portion of the shank member within the plastic massl is in direct contact with the plastic'material of the mass, whereby an anchorage of the textile material of the shank member within the head piece or button body is effected by the infusion of the set plastic material Within the interstitial spaces'of the textile material.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A button of thecharacter described comprising a head piece molded from a plastic mass and a shank member centrally located therein and consisting of a cord of soft, strong and ilexible material doubled upon itself and having the free ends thereof integrally molded to the head piece.

2. A button as claimed in claim 1 in which the upper'surface of the head piece is provided with circular indentations and shallow grooves to simulate sewing holes and sewing threads.

3. A button of the character described comprising a head piece molded from a plastic mass and a shank member centrally located therein and consisting of a piece 'of textile material having at least one free end thereof integrally molded to and anchored within the head piece.

4. A button of the character described vcomprising a head piece molded from a plastic mass and a shank member centrallylocated therein and consisting of a piece of textile material having at least one free end thereof integrally molded to and anchored within the head piece, the entire portion oi' the shank member within the plastic mass being in direct contact with the plastic material of the plastic mass, whereby an anchorage of the textile material of the shank member within the head piecelis eiected by the infusion oi' the set plastic material within the interstitial spaces of the textile material.

HENNING WALDEMAR LINDAHL. 

